China's Cyber Espionage: How 68 Emails from the Cuban Embassy in the US Were Hacked

Kwon Jeong-sang | 2026.05.01

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Cuban Embassy in the U.S.[AP Yonhap file photo][AP Yonhap file photo]
As the U.S. stepped up pressure on Cuba and moved to expand its influence in Latin America after removing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Bloomberg reported that Chinese-linked hackers breached the Cuban Embassy in Washington and exfiltrated emails from dozens of officials.On the 30th (local time), Bloomberg, citing Israeli cybersecurity firm Gambit Security, said the attackers had accessed the email accounts of 68 people since January. The victims included the Cuban ambassador to the United States and diplomats responsible for political and intelligence affairs.Gambit said the intruders exploited long-standing vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s Exchange Server to evade the embassy’s security controls and downloaded entire inboxes belonging to the targeted officials. The firm added that Venezuela’s foreign ministry was also targeted during the same period, and that the operation used tools, techniques and infrastructure linked to Chinese state-sponsored cyber espionage.The company also reported that government and private-sector servers worldwide were hit, including systems at the Texas Health and Human Services agency.Since removing Maduro in January, Washington has tightened its economic and maritime controls on Cuba. By curbing oil shipments, U.S. measures have contributed to severe power shortages on the island and sharpened ongoing economic and healthcare strains.Bloomberg characterized the breach as emblematic of a broader pattern in state-backed spying: adversaries are exploiting flaws in outdated software to rapidly and at scale harvest details of global events. Curtis Simpson, chief strategy officer at Gambit Security, said the incident illustrates how major world events can drive surges in cyber activity, including espionage and network intrusions. He warned that advances in artificial intelligence models — citing examples such as Anthropic’s Mitos — could make the exploitation of publicly known software vulnerabilities more acute.The Cuban Embassy in Washington and the Chinese Embassy did not respond to Bloomberg’s requests for comment.#ChineseHackers #CubanEmbassyInUS #HackingYonhap News TV — Contact and tips: KakaoTalk/LINE jebo23 Kwon Jeong-sang (jusang@yna.co.kr)
Kwon Jeong-sang

Kwon Jeong-sang

China's Cyber Espionage: How 68 Emails from the Cuban Embassy in the US Were Hacked